Saturday, October 20, 2007
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
A Costa Rican Experience
A Cost Rican Adventure
Throughout my four months spent in Costa Rica I experienced more cultural contrasts, met more people, and partook in more adventures than I could ever write down on paper. During my study abroad experience, I attended Veritas University in San Jose. With three-day weekends and San Jose’s central location in the country, I was absolutely primed for incredible weekends of travel. There are too many stories to tell, but one particular weekend stands out vividly in my mind. It was a weekend that seemed almost too magical to actually exist, but trust me, in Costa Rica anything is possible.
It was one of the last weekends in March. After nearly three months in the country I had made some good friends with other students that had come to study in Costa Rica as well. With a 4-day weekend ahead of us (a crew of 9 in all), we piled onto the bus at the bus station they call the Coca-Cola (because it was built on the site of the old Coke factory). Our first destination was Montezuma. If you have never traveled through Costa Rica, the journey in itself is almost as good as the destination. The six-hour trip was occupied with incredible scenery full of lush jungles, animals, and quiet pueblos. This particular destination led us out to the tip of the Nicoya peninsula, where we arrived that evening and piled into a couple of rooms at a small hotel on the beach. Oceanfront, 10 dollars a night. Costa Rica has great cheap places!
That evening we had a fire on the beach and were shocked when the incoming waves appeared a brilliant, electric green. The particular type of algae in this area was causing bio-luminescence, creating a surreal appearance as the waves crashed and flowed into the tide pools. Every time the water was disturbed everything around lit up in the neon green light. Sparkling fish darted around our illuminated silhouettes as we swam through the pools. Every wave brought in a new shower of green sparkles. We sat by the fire playing guitar, sharing stories from the semester, and watching the aqua light show. This unreal night was capped in perfection by thousands of stars above and a lightning storm in the distant horizon. I don’t think Universal Studios could’ve created a better show.
The next morning we rose early and headed to the restaurant located on the sand beach just next door. After a typical breakfast of gallo pinto we trekked up to the nearby waterfall. The hike is only 40 minutes or so, but you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere when you get to the upper falls. When people envision a tropical paradise, this is most likely what comes to mind. A series of waterfalls cascaded from one pool to the next. In the upper pool there is a rope swing and small streams pouring in. From there, you can jump from a thirty-foot waterfall into the next large pool. This certainly was not for the faint of heart, but it was so fun that we spent an entire afternoon playing and jumping from the falls. The view was spectacular as one looked from the middle pool down over the last 90 foot fall that created a dramatic, lush gorge sloping away.
That evening we took a short bus to an area called Mal Pais on the opposite side of the peninsula. As a passionate surfer, I had just landed in paradise. As I stumbled down the rocky path to check the surf the next morning, I was greeted by the sight of seven foot waves peeling off from right to left. The following two days was some of the best surfing I have ever had. Mal País had tons of long beach breaks, or you could head north two miles and find a faster break in Santa Teresa, a small surfing community packed full of cheap hostels and a laid back surfer vibe.
We stayed at the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel. One of the coolest hostels I have ever stayed at. It was clean, had kind workers, and a really neat vibe from all of the people staying there. One of the greatest parts of staying in hostels is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. We would sit at the dinner table and get the chance to discuss topics and hear different perspectives from France, Japan, Canada, all over the world really. After our early morning surf sessions we would come back to the free pancake breakfasts, shoot some pool, ping pong, then lay in a hammock to read or have a mid-morning siesta. By late morning we were usually back surfing and playing on the gorgeous beaches of Mal País. One afternoon we rented quads and explored the surrounding area. However, they proved to be most useful in transporting us back to the nearest town to find the ATM we all had assumed would be out in this beach destination. If you go out to Mal País, bring cash!
This rough lifestyle continued for a couple more days until we had to return to San Jose for our last week of school. Now don’t get me wrong, not all of my time in Costa Rica was playing. I learned an incredible amount during my time at Veritas University and even more during the trips with IGE, but Costa Rica truly offers some of the greatest, laid back travel you can ever find. Hopefully this brief glimpse into one of my favorite weekends will give you an idea about the adventure that awaits!
Throughout my four months spent in Costa Rica I experienced more cultural contrasts, met more people, and partook in more adventures than I could ever write down on paper. During my study abroad experience, I attended Veritas University in San Jose. With three-day weekends and San Jose’s central location in the country, I was absolutely primed for incredible weekends of travel. There are too many stories to tell, but one particular weekend stands out vividly in my mind. It was a weekend that seemed almost too magical to actually exist, but trust me, in Costa Rica anything is possible.
It was one of the last weekends in March. After nearly three months in the country I had made some good friends with other students that had come to study in Costa Rica as well. With a 4-day weekend ahead of us (a crew of 9 in all), we piled onto the bus at the bus station they call the Coca-Cola (because it was built on the site of the old Coke factory). Our first destination was Montezuma. If you have never traveled through Costa Rica, the journey in itself is almost as good as the destination. The six-hour trip was occupied with incredible scenery full of lush jungles, animals, and quiet pueblos. This particular destination led us out to the tip of the Nicoya peninsula, where we arrived that evening and piled into a couple of rooms at a small hotel on the beach. Oceanfront, 10 dollars a night. Costa Rica has great cheap places!
That evening we had a fire on the beach and were shocked when the incoming waves appeared a brilliant, electric green. The particular type of algae in this area was causing bio-luminescence, creating a surreal appearance as the waves crashed and flowed into the tide pools. Every time the water was disturbed everything around lit up in the neon green light. Sparkling fish darted around our illuminated silhouettes as we swam through the pools. Every wave brought in a new shower of green sparkles. We sat by the fire playing guitar, sharing stories from the semester, and watching the aqua light show. This unreal night was capped in perfection by thousands of stars above and a lightning storm in the distant horizon. I don’t think Universal Studios could’ve created a better show.
The next morning we rose early and headed to the restaurant located on the sand beach just next door. After a typical breakfast of gallo pinto we trekked up to the nearby waterfall. The hike is only 40 minutes or so, but you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere when you get to the upper falls. When people envision a tropical paradise, this is most likely what comes to mind. A series of waterfalls cascaded from one pool to the next. In the upper pool there is a rope swing and small streams pouring in. From there, you can jump from a thirty-foot waterfall into the next large pool. This certainly was not for the faint of heart, but it was so fun that we spent an entire afternoon playing and jumping from the falls. The view was spectacular as one looked from the middle pool down over the last 90 foot fall that created a dramatic, lush gorge sloping away.
That evening we took a short bus to an area called Mal Pais on the opposite side of the peninsula. As a passionate surfer, I had just landed in paradise. As I stumbled down the rocky path to check the surf the next morning, I was greeted by the sight of seven foot waves peeling off from right to left. The following two days was some of the best surfing I have ever had. Mal País had tons of long beach breaks, or you could head north two miles and find a faster break in Santa Teresa, a small surfing community packed full of cheap hostels and a laid back surfer vibe.
We stayed at the Costa Rica Backpackers hostel. One of the coolest hostels I have ever stayed at. It was clean, had kind workers, and a really neat vibe from all of the people staying there. One of the greatest parts of staying in hostels is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. We would sit at the dinner table and get the chance to discuss topics and hear different perspectives from France, Japan, Canada, all over the world really. After our early morning surf sessions we would come back to the free pancake breakfasts, shoot some pool, ping pong, then lay in a hammock to read or have a mid-morning siesta. By late morning we were usually back surfing and playing on the gorgeous beaches of Mal País. One afternoon we rented quads and explored the surrounding area. However, they proved to be most useful in transporting us back to the nearest town to find the ATM we all had assumed would be out in this beach destination. If you go out to Mal País, bring cash!
This rough lifestyle continued for a couple more days until we had to return to San Jose for our last week of school. Now don’t get me wrong, not all of my time in Costa Rica was playing. I learned an incredible amount during my time at Veritas University and even more during the trips with IGE, but Costa Rica truly offers some of the greatest, laid back travel you can ever find. Hopefully this brief glimpse into one of my favorite weekends will give you an idea about the adventure that awaits!
The Home Stay Experience
If you study abroad, I beg you to stay with a host family. Immersing yourself, into the lives of people that eat, drink, communicate, etc. in the new culture you have entered is such a key part of the abroad experience.
My time with IGE in San Jose, Costa Rica was phenomenal. One of the greatest parts of my time there was the personal relationship that I developed with my host family. I remember pulling up to the front gates of what was to be my new home for the next 3-4 months. I was excited, nervous, tired, you name the emotion and I probably had some of that in me right then. The house was beautiful. It was small, but very clean and had really interesting architecture too. It was quite different than the sort of hut I had envisioned in my mind when I thought of living in Central America. San Jose is filled with nice homes like this one. The exterior can be a bit intimidating at first, as every house is bordered by tall iron fences, but it offered nearly all of the luxuries of your standard American home.
More importantly than the home itself though, was the incredible family I got to live with. I had a single host mother or Mama-Tica as I liked to call her (Costa Ricans refer to themselves as Ticos) as well as her two children. Daniel, my host brother, was twenty three and a passionate soccer fanatic. Marcela, their daughter was twenty seven. In Latin America the family dynamics are similar in many ways, but quite different in other regards to those in the states. Having children in their late twenties living at home is not at all uncommon. In fact, this would usually be the norm for them until they are married. Marcela did just that. Two months into my stay there, Marcela married and moved to a new apartment. Getting to see a wedding in a new country was incredible. They actually had the wedding in our house. The ceremony was brief, yet elegant. The reception was neither. Ticos certainly know how to have a good time. Participating in experiences like these is what made my time abroad a true cultural immersion.
The food. I can’t say enough about it. Well actually, it really isn’t all that great, but the experience of it house was. Some of my favorite times were sitting around the small kitchen table with the other three, most likely eating rice, beans, and something else. You’ll soon find how much they love rice and beans. It was these times sitting around the table that some of the best conversation had and new perspectives gained. It is a truly priceless experience to be able to sit around and discuss current local and world issues with people from a different country, especially a country as different as Costa Rica. My entire perspective on life and the world itself was changed after my time abroad. We often don’t realize what narrow lenses we have upon us when looking at the rest of the world from the comforts and privileges that we have within the United States. Getting to spend so much time with a Costa Rican family was a huge factor in opening my eyes to a new culture and way of life.
The last thing I’ll mention about a family home stay is the Spanish. If you are at all serious about improving your Spanish then I would encourage you even more so to stay with a family. It forces you to think it and speak all the time at home. That can take a lot of energy sometimes, but trust me, it is well worth the reward of seeing your Spanish and ability to communicate with family and friends increase so drastically. With that said, it is totally upon YOU to take what you want out of the experience. I know some students that had very little interaction with their family, only seeing them in crossing and for a couple of meals a day. Make the effort to get to know the family and show an interest in their lives, the favor will be returned I can assure you. I was fortunate enough to go on several family weekends to the beach with my family. The home stay experience while abroad is a must in my opinion. Besides the Spanish, your eyes will be opened to a new culture, you can gain new perspectives on the world, and make some truly life long friends.
-Travis-
My time with IGE in San Jose, Costa Rica was phenomenal. One of the greatest parts of my time there was the personal relationship that I developed with my host family. I remember pulling up to the front gates of what was to be my new home for the next 3-4 months. I was excited, nervous, tired, you name the emotion and I probably had some of that in me right then. The house was beautiful. It was small, but very clean and had really interesting architecture too. It was quite different than the sort of hut I had envisioned in my mind when I thought of living in Central America. San Jose is filled with nice homes like this one. The exterior can be a bit intimidating at first, as every house is bordered by tall iron fences, but it offered nearly all of the luxuries of your standard American home.
More importantly than the home itself though, was the incredible family I got to live with. I had a single host mother or Mama-Tica as I liked to call her (Costa Ricans refer to themselves as Ticos) as well as her two children. Daniel, my host brother, was twenty three and a passionate soccer fanatic. Marcela, their daughter was twenty seven. In Latin America the family dynamics are similar in many ways, but quite different in other regards to those in the states. Having children in their late twenties living at home is not at all uncommon. In fact, this would usually be the norm for them until they are married. Marcela did just that. Two months into my stay there, Marcela married and moved to a new apartment. Getting to see a wedding in a new country was incredible. They actually had the wedding in our house. The ceremony was brief, yet elegant. The reception was neither. Ticos certainly know how to have a good time. Participating in experiences like these is what made my time abroad a true cultural immersion.
The food. I can’t say enough about it. Well actually, it really isn’t all that great, but the experience of it house was. Some of my favorite times were sitting around the small kitchen table with the other three, most likely eating rice, beans, and something else. You’ll soon find how much they love rice and beans. It was these times sitting around the table that some of the best conversation had and new perspectives gained. It is a truly priceless experience to be able to sit around and discuss current local and world issues with people from a different country, especially a country as different as Costa Rica. My entire perspective on life and the world itself was changed after my time abroad. We often don’t realize what narrow lenses we have upon us when looking at the rest of the world from the comforts and privileges that we have within the United States. Getting to spend so much time with a Costa Rican family was a huge factor in opening my eyes to a new culture and way of life.
The last thing I’ll mention about a family home stay is the Spanish. If you are at all serious about improving your Spanish then I would encourage you even more so to stay with a family. It forces you to think it and speak all the time at home. That can take a lot of energy sometimes, but trust me, it is well worth the reward of seeing your Spanish and ability to communicate with family and friends increase so drastically. With that said, it is totally upon YOU to take what you want out of the experience. I know some students that had very little interaction with their family, only seeing them in crossing and for a couple of meals a day. Make the effort to get to know the family and show an interest in their lives, the favor will be returned I can assure you. I was fortunate enough to go on several family weekends to the beach with my family. The home stay experience while abroad is a must in my opinion. Besides the Spanish, your eyes will be opened to a new culture, you can gain new perspectives on the world, and make some truly life long friends.
-Travis-
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